Residents Protest Police Duo`s Transfer

September 26, 1985|By Andrew Bagnato.

Residents of the 18th Police District expressed outrage Wednesday night over the transfer of two trusted, longtime civilian beat representatives and demanded their return to the economically diverse Near North Side community.

But officials responsible for the transfer promised only to discuss the matter. Hubert Holton, director of the beat representative program, and Deputy Police Supt. Ira Harris said they would make a decision within seven working days on whether to reassign Jean Campbell and Senorita Kidd to their previous posts.

In a sometimes raucous meeting, about 100 people squeezed into the meeting room of the Old Town Triangle Center, 1763 N. North Park Ave. The audience reflected the diversity of the community once patrolled by Campbell and Kidd, with blacks and whites, young professionals and retirees all voicing disapproval of the transfer.

The 18th District--bounded by Lake Michigan on the east, the Chicago River on the west, Kinzie Street on the south and Fullerton Avenue on the north--includes the high-rise housing projects of Cabrini-Green as well as the luxury towers along Lake Shore Drive.

On Sept. 13 Campbell was reassigned to the 16th District on the Far Northwest Side; Kidd was dispatched to a northern district.

Some of the people who live in those buildings asked Holton and Harris why they had transferred two women who had earned respect from all segments of the district.

Holton said the change was part of a citywide personnel shift needed because some districts had only one beat representative. He added that the two transferred employees were not as successful in recruiting volunteer beat representatives as others in the city.

Each resident who spoke was cheered, but the loudest applause was reserved for Jesse A. Winston, who works with youths in the district.

``This community is made up of upper-class, middle-class and lower-class people. They knew how to move around this community like nobody else can,`` he said, referring to Campbell and Kidd. ``You`re going to pull them away on the basis of an administrative decision?``

Many members of the audience vowed to fight the transfer. Mike Realmuto, a director of the Lincoln Park Conservation Association, gestured to the audience behind him and told police, ``We`re going to take this to your bosses if you don`t reconsider. We`re going to make an issue of it.``

Residents said they had grown accustomed to the sight of Campbell, who is middle-aged and white, and her young assistant, Kidd, who is black. Both are full-time employees of the Chicago Police Department.

``Jean Campbell has been the most consistent force in our neighborhood,`` Hal Brun told the officials. ``She walks our streets, she knows our kids, and she understands our lives. I don`t think you understand.``

Several neighborhoood groups have begun a letter-writing campaign in an attempt to persuade police to reverse the decision.

The beat representative program is designed to give residents a line of contact with police.